Elsewhere
by Castor Fu
Summary: The story of the crew of the chopper that passed over the mall survivors.
1. Elsewhere

"I... I never really did have much luck with the girls."

"...Maybe. But what's luck? I'm sure some people would argue that good luck with girls means no contact with 'em."

"Maybe." A silence asserted itself.

"And stop using past tense."

A cough that could have been a laugh under different circumstance issued forth from the lips of the bloodied man.

"You know as well as I do that there's no way out of this one. It's done man. I'm done. I don't know if I want you to stay or leave, but..." Another silence. The ceiling fan clicked overhead. "Actually, forget that. I know I want you to stay, but if you do, you're dead too. You know this."

"Yeah. I do."

The bloodied man grunted a bit as he propped himself up against the wall. The activity caused his wounds to bleed more fervently than before.

"I'm not scared though, Jinx, really I'm not... I lived a life relatively empty of regrets..." His dry rasping cough-laugh sputtered out again. "And if you and your sticking around here fucks it up, then so help me I'll..."

"What'll you do? Kill me?" They both shared a slight chuckle. Jinx looked out the window at the many shambling forms clawing to get into the derelict apartment.

"You gotta go now, Jinx."

"I know."

"Tell the others where I hid the tequila."

Jinx laughed slightly and supported the bloodied man's head.

"Heh... We already found it."

"You b-bastards..." A laugh turned into a fit of coughing, spraying Jinx with blood. "Sorry a-about that, man, it's just that I... I can't..." With that, he went limp. Jinx propped his friend up against the wall and closed his eyes. He wiped the blood from his face and leveled his .357 at the corpse's forehead.

"It's OK, man... I'm sorry about this too."

_**Elsewhere.**_

By James Amend 

Jinx walked up the stairs and opened the door to the roof where the military helicopter sat, prepped for take-off.

"What the hell took you so long?" yelled a teammate as Jinx walked toward the helicopter.

"He had some stuff to say."

"Like what?"

"He called you a bastard, for one." Jinx hopped into the helicopter and Mina followed.

"Wouldn't it be more pertinent to say bitch?" interjected the pilot.

"He called you a bastard too, Brogan."

"Well he can call me what he wants, but I got his tequila."

"Bastard." Laughed Jinx.

The helicopter took off, leaving the doomed apartment complex to it's own devices. They had searched, as ordered, and found nothing. Hell, because of the whole venture, they were light one demolitions expert. Jinx lit up a cigarette and inhaled.

"Smoking kills." Said Mina with a wry look on her face.

"So do they." Jinx pointed out the open side of the helicopter, where a large group of zombies had gathered in front of a mall. "But they don't do it quite so enjoyably."

"Looks like a got-damn Led Zepplin concert down there." Interjected Brogan.

"I'd say Grateful Dead." There was an awkward silence.

"Holy hell that was lame."

"Shut up."

They were passing over the mall now.

"Hey, check it out. 'Alive Inside.'"

"So it would seem. Wanna get 'em?"

"What do you 'Wanna get em?' It's our orders to get 'em. Now, unless you'd rather go grab a soda and maybe catch a movie, I think we better land this bird and rescue these people. Now get tactical."

"Might wanna hold the onions on that one, boss man, we just got a message from Pastor."

"Put it on public channel, Brogan. Mina, you listen too."

"Nah, I think I'll just sit here and play my game boy. I'll play my damn game boy, Jinx. You know, the one I always play instead of listening to messages from Pastor." Jinx just stared at her. "Idiot."

Jinx laughed with her and put the pressed the earpiece further into his ear. The message played.

"Fort Pastor, rescue site number 117, requesting any and all available reinforcements." The message was simple, and that was it. It just played over and over again.

"You've got to be fucking me." Mina mumbled.

"Heh, some of us can only dream."

"Brogan, cut the shit. This is bad."

"I know. I'm en route, boss."

"Looks like those poor bastards in the mall are gonna have to wait."

"Looks like it."


	2. Pastor

Pastor 

The chopper thundered through the air a mile north of Fort Pastor.

"Wow."

"Quite."

"You don't suppose this is the line to get into Pastor, do you?"

"In the name of God I hope so..." A lump formed in Jinx's throat at the thought of the alternative. A line of people, thousands upon ten thousands of people, clogging every street and arterial all the way up to the Fort Pastor checkpoint gate.

"It must be at least two miles long..." As they flew further in, they were able to see that the line had, in fact, breached the gate at Pastor. Jinx silently said a prayer that those were just refugees.

"Look," said Mina, pointing. "Gunfire."

"... My God..." whispered Brogan.

"Set us down." Jinx said calmly. "We're needed."

Jinx hopped out of the chopper as it powered down, jogging to meet the soldier who was approaching him.

"Sergeant Jenkins! Good to see you again, sir." Salutes were exchanged.

"Where's the captain?" Jinx yelled, trying to be heard over the din of helicopters and gunshots.

"His position got hit as soon as you dropped in, sir. He's holed up on the other side of this barricade."

"Take me."

The soldier led him down the metal stairs that led to the landing pad and brought him to a balcony that overlooked a courtyard. From the balcony, other soldiers took shots at the mass of writhing death that pulsed and shambled below them. Soldiers on the ground tried to hold their positions, but were being consumed one by one.

"It's across there. He's in that bunker across the yard."

Jinx looked to where the man pointed. A small concrete bunker stood out of the ground like a pencil's eraser poking through a piece of paper. The number of zombies in the courtyard paled in comparison to the amount surrounding the bunker.

"What're we looking at?" asked Mina as she trotted up, gun in hand. Jinx pointed.

"Cap's over there."

"You mean in that gray, zombie-fortified zit?"

"Yeah."

"Is he still alive?"

"Who can tell?"

"So what're we gonna do?"

"We're gonna play on our game boys. You know, our damn game boys, Mina. The ones we always play on instead of rescuing the captain." Mina laughed at Jinx's joke and cocked her gun.

"Let's do this then."

Jinx turned to the soldier that led him there.

"Lieutenant, we are going to attempt to extract Captain Kimsey from that bunker. We're going to need some help."

The lieutenant looked at Jinx as if he had just calmly explained to him that he was going to ride his bicycle to the moon. Finally, he decided Jinx wasn't joking and gave a salute.

"Sir, most all of our units are engaged at the moment, and... I'm uh... Needed here. No offense, sir, but that's a suicide mission."

"Thank you for your assessment of the situation. I never would have been able to discern the danger of the mission without your expert tactical information. Now, I didn't ask for your intel, I asked for some men. If I ever want someone to tell me how suicidal my task is going to be, I'll give you a call, but until that time, the issue still remains: I need some men." The lieutenant looked as if he were about to turn and run.

"Sir!" Both Jinx and the young lieutenant turned to the approaching private. "Sir, they've taken the north gate. All of our units in that sector have been... Er... Neutralized."

"No survivors?"

"No sir."

"Shit. Sergeant, I'm sorry, I have to see to this. You're on your own." The young soldier trotted off with the private. Jinx lit up another cigarette.

"So?" asked Mina.

"So..." Jinx said, exhaling. "I've had worse odds."

"Bullshit." Jinx just smiled.


End file.
